Ceremony on Oct. 21 to Include Talk by Critic and Bibliophile Michael Dirda

The Center for the Book and the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress, the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America and the Fellowship of American Bibliographic Societies have announced the winners of the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest. The organizations assumed leadership of the contest in 2010 with support from the Jay I. Kislak Foundation.

The winners will receive their awards during a ceremony on Friday, Oct. 21, at 5:30 p.m. in the West Dining Room, located on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public; no tickets or registration are required. The program includes a talk, “The Thrill of the Hunt: The Serendipitous Pleasures of Book Collecting” by Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for The Washington Post.

Prizes, generously underwritten by the Jay I. Kislak Foundation, will be awarded both to the students and to the libraries of their respective institutions.

In 1815, the Library of Congress acquired the personal library of Thomas Jefferson, the basis of its future collection development. Later collectors such as Lessing J. Rosenwald, John Boyd Thacher and Otto H. Vollbehr, among many others, conveyed their book collections to the Library where they are conserved and made available in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. More recently, the Library received the gift of the Jay I. Kislak Collection of rare books, manuscripts and other early American materials.

Since its creation by Congress in 1977 to "stimulate public interest in books and reading," the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress (www.Read.gov/cfb/) has become a major national force for reading and literacy promotion. The center provides leadership for 52 affiliated state centers for the book (including the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and nonprofit reading-promotion partners and plays a key role in the Library’s annual National Book Festival. It also oversees the Library’s www.Read.gov website and administers the Library’s Young Readers Center.

The Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) is a trade association of more than 450 professionals who specialize in fine and rare books, maps, documents, autographs, illuminated manuscripts, ephemera and prints that span the economic spectrum. Its members are united in their passion for books and related material and are bound by a code of ethics. ABAA sponsors three antiquarian book fairs each year.

The Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies (FABS) is an association of collecting organizations whose mission is to communicate, share and support bibliographic activities, experience and ideas among member clubs for mutual benefit and pleasure.

The Jay I. Kislak Foundation, based in Miami, is engaged in the collection, conservation, research and interpretation of rare books, manuscripts, maps and cultural artifacts.